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Published: August 7th 2007
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Hi and big love to everyone… We finally left Puerto Vallarta and took a sleepless 21 hour bus journey down the west coast of Mexico heading for the bright lights of Acapulco… The journey on bus was touted at taking 18 hours to get there - 3 x 6hr drives I thought and we are done! So the18 hours came and went and we are still weaving up and down the mountains in the bus going south… A mosquito has decided my feet look like a good place for a bite and I’m trying to doze off as the sun is starting to rise. People had said to us “you’ll not like Acapulco as much as Puerto Vallarta” so with this in mind we approached Acapulco 21 hours later, dazed and confused… We jumped in a taxi (blue & white VW Beetle) found the hotel we had wanted was closed, so our driver took us to another which had a swimming pool, so all worked out lovely. Being delirious from so much bus usage we wanted a quiet night, so after a chilled day by the pool we had dinner locally and came back later in the evening…. Now, I can
sleep forever and have learned that Mexican’s like to fiesta all night to some crazy rhythms. We are in the 2nd week of the Easter Celebrations and its Saturday night folks… Start the NOISE! One stereo sound system working out to some Hard Techno, in comes a new sound system with Mariachi classics being belted out with gusto, in comes the bang! Bang! Bang! Sound of…. Firecrackers going off all night, ‘Cock a doodle doo’ does that cock know what time it is? Oh yeah how could I nearly forget the crazy kids on motorbikes doing wheelies and endo’s up and down the road revving and screeching, car horns stereo blasts, sirens alarms…. Well I just about managed some shuteye but it was sketchy…. We were told that after the weekend the celebrations will die down and the place should be a lot quieter. So we gritted our teeth and gave it a few more days….
I would recommend the following 2 activities if you are in Acapulco:- Firstly (an absolute must see) watch in awe at the cliff divers at La Quebrada. Defying death these guys perform every afternoon with hourly displays working to a finale at about
10.15pm (by spotlight no less!) They actually climb the cliff (no harnesses or anything) and then dive from it… the dive is roughly 130ft into a small cove of water about 13ft deep. The best place to watch the divers is from La Perla Restaurant at the Mirador Hotel (it actually faces the dive spot), we decided to take our dinner there and it makes for a truly spectacular backdrop. Secondly a visit to Roqueta Island which is a tiny island a short ferry journey away and is in my opinion the best bit of Acapulco (a little taste of heaven) - this is what brought the original jet-setters back in the 50’s & 60’s. Cocktails and fresh fish on the beach and water clear enough for some good snorkelling - its only open until 5pm each day, so make a day of it!
Honest impressions of Acapulco…well coming from Puerto Vallarta which is also a town nestled in a bay surrounded by mountains its easy to draw comparisons and similarities whereas P.V. is a relatively new tourist development, virgin and un-abused by commerce and pollution, Acapulco has been whored out over the years, wears a “Been There &
Done That” T-Shirt and has the scars to prove it. Acapulco itself is a thriving commercial port and buildings sprawl around every available spot of land the eye can see, inching its way up the tropical forest covered mountainside and its shoreline is dominated by sky scraping hotels and residential condo’s for sale. Every sort of fishing / sports / sailing vessel is here from the opulent cruisers to decrepit wooden hulls. It’s all here… fine food, restaurants, the glitz, the glamour…. Oh wait something seems to be missing… oh yeah SOUL! Whatever allure this place once had I must admit I didn’t feel it… It’s the classic tale of too much of a good thing spoiling what must have been a real gem. Not saying it’s a bad place it just not for me… I need something a little more rural a little bit off the beaten track…. Somewhere unspoilt, a slower tempo of life… some little piece of heaven somewhere…. And you know what… We found such a place and you will be hearing much more about Puerto Escondido in the next blog…. Needless to say we love it here… So until next time… adios amigos!
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Emma Harvey
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Greetings from Britain
Hello hello Looks like your enjoying it out there mate, its fantastic isnt it the travel life! Keep smiling.x